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Telma Hopkins
| gender = Female | husband = Donald B. Allan | family = 1 son | occupation = Actress, singer | years = 1967–present | series = Family Matters | first = The Mama Who Came to Dinner | last = Deck the Malls | character = Rachel Crawford | episodes = 94}} Telma Louise Hopkins (born October 28, 1948) is an American singer and actress. She rose to prominence as a member of the 1970's pop music group Tony Orlando and Dawn, which had several number one songs. She also performed on the CBS variety show Tony Orlando and Dawn from 1974 to 1976 along with Tony Orlando and Joyce Vincent Wilson. In late 1970s, Hopkins began working as actress, playing roles on various sitcoms, including Bosom Buddies (1980–82), Gimme a Break! (1983–87) and Family Matters (1989–1997) as Rachel. As lead actress, she starred on Getting By from 1993 to 1994. In later years, Hopkins was regular cast member on Half & Half (2002–06), Are We There Yet? (2010–13), and short-lived Partners (2014). In film, she co-starred in 1984 science fiction film Trancers and in its sequels Trancers II (1991) and Trancers III (1992), and well as appeared in The Wood (1999) and The Love Guru (2008). Her worst role happened to be Racheal Crawford. Career Music Hopkins started her career as a background singer in Detroit, Michigan, singing on many of the Golden World and Motown hits and working with legendary acts like The Four Tops and Marvin Gaye. She also sang back up for Isaac Hayes and can be heard famously exclaiming "Shut your mouth!" on Hayes' hit song "Theme From Shaft". In 1971, Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson were recruited by Tony Orlando to form the vocal group Dawn. (Orlando had released the singles "Candida" and "Knock Three Times", recorded with session vocalists Linda November and Toni Wine backing him, under the name Dawn; when the singles charted, Orlando found himself needing to assemble an actual backing group to tour and record with.) As a recording act, Tony Orlando and Dawn would have much success throughout the second half of the 1970s, releasing 16 top-40 singles, three of which reached #1, and starring in a CBS variety show (entitled Tony Orlando and Dawn) from 1974 to 1976. In 1977, Tony Orlando and Dawn announced their retirement. TV and film In 1979, Hopkins made her acting debut playing Daisy in the ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations. Later that year, she co-starred alongside Eileen Brennan on the short-lived ABC sitcom A New Kind of Family. The following year, she was cast opposite Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari in another ABC sitcom, Bosom Buddies. The series was cancelled in 1982 after two seasons. She also guest-starred on The Love Boat, Fantasy Island and The New Odd Couple during early 1980s. In 1983, Hopkins joined the cast of NBC sitcom Gimme a Break! starring Nell Carter. She played Adelaide "Addy" Wilson, Nell's childhood friend, to series finale in 1987. In 1989, Hopkins began starring as Rachel Baines-Crawford in the ABC sitcom Family Matters. She left the series after four season as regular cast member, making guest appearances in later years to its finale in 1997. She left Family Matters for starring as series' lead in ABC sitcom Getting By which aired from 1993 to 1994. She also shaded actor Reginald Vel Johnson on the 20 year Family matters reunion. Hopkins also has had number of supporting film roles. She played Engineer Ruth "Ruthie" Raines in 1984 science fiction film Trancers starring Tim Thomerson and Helen Hunt, and its sequels Trancers II (1991) and Trancers III (1992). In later years, she appeared as Richard T. Jones' mother in 1999 romantic comedy film The Wood, and in 2008 played Romany Malco's mother in the comedy film The Love Guru. She starred in the play JD Lawrence's The Clean Up Woman in October 2008. From 2002 to 2006, Hopkins starred in the UPN sitcom Half & Half alongside Rachel True, Essence Atkins and Valarie Pettiford. She had the recurring roles on The Hughleys and Any Day Now. From 2010 to 2013, she co-starred alongside Terry Crews and Essence Atkins in the TBS sitcom Are We There Yet?. In 2014, she played Martin Lawrence's mother on the FX sitcom Partners. In 2016, she was cast as Jerrika Hinton' mother in the ABC comedy pilot Toast produced by ShondaLand. Trivia * Hopkins and co-star Rosetta LeNoire were reunite from their NBC sitcom series Gimme a Break!. Gallery 1991 ABC Summer TCA Press Tour Jaimee, Kellie & Telma.jpg Telma Hopkins photo.jpg 136781817.jpg 171949453.jpg 136777592.jpg 136711330.jpg 136711216.jpg 136711202.jpg 136711226.jpg 136711223.jpg 136526091.jpg 136906211.jpg External links * Telma Hopkins on Wikipedia Category:Actors Category:Cast Members Category:Female Category:Recurring Cast